Tuesday, 20 September 2005

Have you heard the definition of a serious athlete? Times himself for every training run.A really serious athlete? Times himself, and stops his watch when he has to stop running at road crossings, red lights, etc.The most serious athlete of all? Times himself, and doesn't stop running at road crossings, red lights etc.

The evolution of what motivates us to race is similar.Stage one is the young athlete, who is motivated by beating others; by crossing the line first.But with maturity comes stage two - being motivated by improving one's time, running PBs (personal bests) or SBs (season's bests), not concerned with what others are doing.And stage three, the final stage, is where one's racing is also aimed at helping others, encouraging other runners in a race to do their best as well as you doing your best.

So while doing your best, give others a hand to do their best. It's much more satisfying and rewarding, in the long run.

I will follow this with nine more posts of racing tips. But while the presence of other runners in a race can help you do better, it isn't really your objective to see other runners fail falter and finish poorly.